Everlasting Covenants?

[Covenanter]

1. The Rainbow, Genesis 9:16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

2. Abraham, Genesis 17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. & Genesis 17:8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. & Genesis 17:13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. & Genesis 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. & 1 Chronicles 16:17 And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, & Psalms 105:10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: & Isaiah 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. & Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. & Isaiah 61:8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. & Jeremiah 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. & Ezekiel 16:60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. & Ezekiel 37:26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

3. Show Bread, Leviticus 24:8 Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.

4. Phinehas Priesthood, Numbers 25:12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: ¹³ And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.

5. David's Kingship/Kingdom, 2 Samuel 23:5 Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.

6. Jesus, Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, ⁶ Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

If one of the everlasting covenants isn't in use today does that mean everlasting has failed? We know the Jews lost their land once for 70 years and another time for almost 1900 years, so did the covenant fail the 1st time? the 2nd time? They lost the show bread during those same two times, does that mean it failed? The same with David's Kingdom during those times, does that mean it failed before Jesus arrived? If it didn't fail but the others did, why is it different? If those everlasting covenants fail why will Jesus' not fail or has it failed too?

The other covenants God made were they everlasting too? Can God make a covenant to last only so long? Can God change his mind and destroy an everlasting covenant? Can man who is temporary destroy an everlasting covenant?

Everlasting must depend on God and his unfailing promises. He swears by himself. If it appears to us that such a covenant has failed, or is in abeyance, then we must consider it to be typical, and fulfilled in and by Christ.  

He fulfilled all the sacrifices and offerings required by the law, so redeeming his people, he is the king in David's line, and he has entered heaven to secure our home in glory.

Peter declared that his hearers were children of ... the covenant, and Paul that Jesus confirmed the covenant. Acts 3, Acts 15 Rom. 15:8

We need have no doubts, God is keeping his covenant promises through Abraham's seed, Jesus, and all his redeemed people will enjoy them for all eternity.

 

 

Edited August 6, 2015 by Covenanter
Romans 15, not Acts 15

[Covenanter]

After all the discussions on the forum I was guided to preach on "Covenant Theology" starting from Sinai & including Peter's quotation of Exodus 19.

I will upload in parts, using the sermon topics.

God's People – God's Treasure August 16, 2015.

A sermon on Covenant Theology – edited for the internet.

Read: Exodus 19:1-9, 16-25, 20:1-6, 18-21

Children's talk

Can you remember the text you learnt at the Holiday Bible Club? Let's say it together:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John chapter 3, verse 16.

Do your parents have a special name for you? A name that shows they love you in a special way? Would you be embarrassed if I asked you to tell me?

We often have special names – pet names - for those we love – darling, sweetheart, my love, Daddy's girl or Mummy's boy, Baby. A married lady I know with a proper Indian name is still called Dolly.

I think of my grandchildren as my Treasure.

Did you notice in the reading what God said he would call the people of Israel.

if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Ex. 19:5

My treasure shows how much God loves his people who trust him & follow him.

God loves us & calls us to turn from our sin & trust in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. When we do, we become God's treasure.

I'll be teaching more about that in my sermon.

There is a special word for God's promises - “Covenant” - and the simplest expression of God's covenant is: “You will be my people, and I will be your God.”

Repeat that with me: “You will be my people, and I will be your God.”

I've written a chorus to help us remember that special relationship:

 

When you trust in Jesus, remember God has promised,

“You will be my people, and I will be your God.”

This is God's covenant, This is God's covenant,

“You will be my people, and I will be your God.”

Tune – Early one morning

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Sermon headings:

 

1. The covenant relationship of God with his people Israel.

2. The covenant broken by the people of Israel.

3. A new covenant needed.

4. The covenant with Abraham

5. The new covenant preached

6. The new covenant is fulfilled by Jesus

7. The New covenant lived

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Covenanter]

 

1. The covenant relationship of God with his people Israel.

I'll begin with a verse in - Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

That speaks of the final glorious state after Jesus has returned for resurrection & judgement. He brings into existence a new heaven & new earth. That relationship – his people, their God - must begin now, by repentance, & faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord, God & Saviour.

When all the redeemed people of God are with him in glory, that special relationship will be perfectly true. We will be God's people. & he will be our God, for all eternity.

We have read in Exodus about God's special message to the Israelites. They are safely out of Egypt and in the wilderness of Sinai. They are safe, so God reveals himself to them & explains the special relationship.

First the good news: - Exo. 19:4-8

The people of Israel responded enthusiastically to God's message of love: "All that the LORD hath spoken we will do."

But, we need to note a key word in God's message – IF -  if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people:

God then spends time revealing himself with his glory veiled by clouds, & speaking to the people directly giving them the ten commandments. They are terrified.

Read Exo. 20:18-21

Then in Exodus 24:5-8 Moses reads out all the words of the commandments that Israel must keep under the terms of the covenant, and again they promise obedience.

The sacrifice shows that God knows that perfect obedience is not possible for people, however hard we try. The blood of the sacrifice is sprinkled on the people to guarantee that God will keep the covenant. He has made his covenant promises. God accepts willing obedience from his people when they seek to serve him from the heart.

God's requirements for the people are not perfection. Once they were in the promised land Joshua renewed the covenant, & we read:

Judges 2:6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.

7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.

God gave sacrifices for sin, to show that disobedience deserved death, but he would accept the blood of sacrificed animals, offered in faith, & their blood would cover the sins of the people.

The elders are even given a sight of the glorious LORD. Exo. 24:9-11

What could go wrong?

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[Covenanter]

Our opening hymn was: Let us love, & sing & wonder 

Let us love and sing and wonder,
Let us praise the Savior’s Name!
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder,
He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame.
He has washed us with His blood,
He has brought us nigh to God.

Let us love the Lord Who bought us,
Pitied us when enemies,
Called us by His grace, and taught us,
Gave us ears and gave us eyes:
He has washed us with His blood,
He presents our souls to God.

Let us sing, though fierce temptation
Threaten hard to bear us down!
For the Lord, our strong Salvation,
Holds in view the conqueror’s crown:
He Who washed us with His blood
Soon will bring us home to God.

Let us wonder; grace and justice
Join and point to mercy’s store;
When through grace in Christ our trust is,
Justice smiles and asks no more:
He Who washed us with His blood
Has secured our way to God.

Let us praise, and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high;
Here they trusted Him before us,
Now their praises fill the sky:
“Thou hast washed us with Your blood;
Thou art worthy, Lamb of God!”

Hark! the Name of Jesus, sounded
Loud, from golden harps above!
Lord, we blush, and are confounded,
Faint our praises, cold our love!
Wash our souls and songs with blood,
For by Thee we come to God.

John Newton

Verse 6 isn't in our hymn book.

 

 

 

 

 

2. The covenant broken.

Moses goes back up the mountain, leaving Aaron in charge, and the people soon get bored. All they have to do is relax & care for their families & cattle, collect manna & water & live in peace.

BUT before Moses reappears a few weeks later, the people start complaining.

Turn on to Ex. 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

That promised obedience is soon forgotten, & the covenant rejected by the people.

Remember Ex. 19:5 if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people:

IF! They repeatedly show their disobedience to God's covenant, so that only two of all those delivered from Egypt arrived safely in the promised land – forty years later. The rest died in the wilderness.

The history of Israel in the Old Testament is a cycle of disobedience to the covenants, punishment, a call to repentance by the prophets, and a short-lived return to obedience.

How could God's wonderful covenant promises be fulfilled?

----------------------------

 

[Covenanter]

3. A new covenant was needed.

We read in Jeremiah 31:1 At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.

3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

.......

How will that wonderful promise be fulfilled? Read on:

31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

 

The Holy Trinity will accomplish the salvation of the people of God. The Father will give his Son who will save his people from their sins through his sacrifice at Calvary, & will baptise them with the Holy Spirit, giving new birth & living in our hearts & minds, so that we will walk with God in a covenant relationship that will last into eternity – as we read in Rev. 21.

That new covenant promise is quoted in Hebrews 8 as referring to the saving work of the Lord Jesus.

---------------------------

 

[Covenanter]

 

4. The covenant with Abraham

We need to move on to the New Covenant Scriptures, but before we do we will look at the covenant promises to Abraham in Genesis 22, after Abraham had offered his son in sacrifice – when God provided a ram in his place.

Read - Genesis 22:15-18

That promise - And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. - was repeated to Isaac, & to Jacob. Peter & Paul show that that covenant promise refers to ONE offspring - the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, NOT to the countless descendants of the patriarchs.

So we move to the New Testament. The two parts of the Bible should be called Old & New Covenants. There are NO “testaments” in the Old Testament!

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5. The new covenant preached

Acts 3 – After the healing of the lame man at the gate of the temple, Peter preached:

Read Acts 3:22-26

Note: Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

The great prophet they were waiting for has come – the Lord Jesus Christ - to bless all nations on earth with salvation, and he begins with the people of Israel to whom the covenant promises were given, but who had despised, rejected & crucified their Messiah.

Paul teaches those who wanted to keep the old covenant, in Galatians 3

Read Gal. 3:6-11

If all this sounds complicated keep listening - the answer is all about Jesus.

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[Covenanter]

 

6. The covenant promises are all fulfilled by Jesus

If all this sounds complicated keep listening - the answer is all about Jesus.

God had made the covenant promises, & God himself is keeping them, by Jesus, the eternal Son of God becoming man, born under the Old Covenant, born to save his people from their sins. As Matthew tells us: Mat. 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

The father of John the baptist prophesied about Jesus at his son's birth:

Read Luke 1:67-75

Note v. 72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant.

At the last supper, before his arrest & crucifixion, Jesus as he gave the wine said: For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Mat. 26:28

Jesus' words echo the words of Moses in Ex. 24:

7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient

8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.  

The Old Covenant relies on the obedience of the people of Israel – and failed.

The New Covenant relies on the obedience of Jesus Christ, who triumphed gloriously. He lived in perfect obedience, and when he died he shed his own blood, the blood of the New Covenant. All who believe in Jesus as Lord & Saviour are saved by that New Covenant that cannot be broken.

--------------------------------

 

 

[Covenanter]

The hymn before the sermon was:

Loved with everlasting love 

It takes up the words from the beginning of Jeremiah 31.

 

[Covenanter]

 

7. The new covenant lived

Finally we must look at Peter's teaching about the covenant in Ex. 19, where we began.

I'll read from 1 Peter 2:4-12

Note: 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

That is the perfect fulfilment of God's covenant promise:

Ex. 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

The people of Israel had an IF in the old covenant promise. Disobey, & the covenant is broken. We have Jesus Christ, and by faith in him we are righteous. There is no “if ye will obey” because believers in Jesus are credited with his perfect obedience. The New Covenant cannot be broken.

What about us, living under the new covenant? Are we free to disobey God's Law because there is no “if” clause? Of course not! The new covenant promise is for the Holy Spirit to live within us, so that we have the Law written on our minds & hearts. We are born again by the Spirit of God, and are living new lives as the people of God.

Peter begins his first letter with a call to obedience:

1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied

 

Note: Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Elect ... unto obedience. We are not just commanded to obey, but given the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to sanctify us, & sprinkled by his blood to cleanse us from every sin.

How do we see ourselves? Struggling, sometimes defeated Christians, aware of our sin, our failure to witness for our Saviour, longing to see more fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

How does God see us? A people belonging to him, his treasure, so loved with an everlasting love.

Come as sinners to Jesus, our Saviour God & experience that wonderful love he has promised in his Everlasting Covenant.

We are indeed A people belonging to him, his treasure, so loved with an everlasting love.

Amen.

Blessing:

Heb 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

...

25 Grace be with you all. Amen.

 

 

The final hymn was:

1. A mind at perfect peace with God,
Oh! what a word is this!
A sinner reconciled through blood;
This, this indeed is peace!

2. By nature and by practice far,
How very far from God!
Yet now by grace brought nigh to Him,
Through faith in Jesus’ blood.

3. So near, so very near to God,
I cannot nearer be;
Yet in the person of His Son
I am as near as He.

4. So dear, so very dear to God,
More dear I cannot be;
The love where with He loves the Son:
Such is His love to me!

5. Why should I ever careful be,
Since such as God is mine?
He watches o’er me night and day,
And tells me Mine is thine.

Catesby Paget

[Alan]

"Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, not man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God  in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that is should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise." Galatians 3:15-18

All of the Covenants, and promises, of God are Everlasting Covenants and Everlasting promises. Whether Israel is obedient or not; one day all of the Covenants and promises made by God will be fulfilled by His seed, Jesus Christ, as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

The Lord Jesus will fulfill all of the Covenants promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and to King David, literally, during His Millennial Reign on the earth, in the city of Jerusalem, as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. This is prophesied in Revelation 20:4-6.

The church does not replace the nation of Israel, nor does the New Covenant disannul the covenants given to the Jews. The church is grafted into the nation of Israel; the nation of Israel is not grafted in the church: Romans 11:17-24 Our Replacement and Covenant Theology brethren are in doctrinal error.

The Tribulation Period is to bring back the nation of Israel to God. One day God will take away the ungodliness from the nation of Israel. The inhabitants of  will be saved and grafted back into the line of the Patriarch Israel.  Romans 11:23-27 "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, there shall come forth out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." Romans 11:26 & 27

Romans 11:5, “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” The nation of Israel is God’s elect and God will one day restore the nation of Israel as promised.

1. Abraham. Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-18; chapter 15: 17:1-14. The resurrected Abraham, and his saved, descendants, will at this time inherit the land that God promised Abraham, “... and to thy seed for ever.” Genesis 15:18, “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.”

2. David. “And I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning.” 1 Chronicles 17:9 Please note that David is asleep and that there are no conditions of this Covenant. It will be fulfilled by God whether or not the children of Israel follow the Law or not. It is an un-conditional covenant: 1 Chronicles 17: 3-15

   Ezekiel 34:20-31; verse 23, “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God [this is a direct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ as God], and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.” 2 Samuel 7:4-17 and Psalm 89:3 and 4

3. The Covenant of Ezekiel 37. This chapter gives the vision of the, ‘Dry Bones,’ (a picture of the future restoration of the nation of Israel in the Millennium), God gave this Covenant. Ezekiel 37:24-26, “And David my servant shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be prince their prince for ever.”

4. Confirmed to the Nation of Israel. Deuteronomy 4:31

      

The following prophetic verse give us great details of the time when God restores the nation of Israel and fulfills His Everlasting Covenants as promised:

 

Isaiah 9:6 tells us there will be no end to the Kingdom. The Kingdom will continue throughout eternity.

Isaiah chapter 11 the animal kingdom will be changed among other physical blessings.

Isaiah 24:23 After the horrific happenings listed in Isiah 24:1-22 the, “... LORD of hosts shall reign in Mt Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.”

Isaiah chapter 35 tells us of the great physical blessings in the Millennium.

Isaiah 30:18-26 blessings upon blessings!

Isaiah chapter 60 tells us that the Lord will not only restore the nation of Israel but He will glorify the nation of Israel. Isaiah 60:12, “For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted.” May I at this juncture remind the Saved Gentiles that the church did not, ‘replace,’ Israel, but the Saved Gentiles are, ‘grafted,’ into the nation of Israel. Romans 11

Isaiah 65:17-25 tells us of the increase of longevity and, ‘... the wolf and the lamb shall feed together...’ see also Zechariah 8:1-8

Ezekiel chapter 47 tells us further great physical changes and blessings.

Hosea 3:5 David will be King over Israel.

Micah 4:1-7 tells us all nations will come to the Millennial Temple.

Zechariah chapter 3 the LORD will take away the filthy garments of the Joshua the High priest in order to serve, ‘... my servant the BRANCH.’ The, BRANCH,’ is the Lord Jesus as KING.

Zechariah 8:21-23 tells us of the restoration of the Jew to international prominence.

Zechariah 9:10 tells us how far the dominion will cover.

Zechariah 12:9-14 tell how the Jews will mourn for the previous unbelief.

Zechariah chapter 14:4-11 and 16-21 tells us of changes of the land and the nations.

Also, Joel 3:18; 2:24-26, Amos 9:13, Isaiah 55:12 & 13, Psalm 67:6

 

Alan

 

 

Edited August 19, 2015 by Alan
spelling re-phrase a sentence.

[Covenanter]

It's time I came back to this thread.